Samsung Galaxy S8’s most exciting rumours and features so far: We’re fast approaching the official 2017 launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 flagship phone, and already we’re damp with excitement. Here’s our pick of the most thrilling Galaxy S8 rumours right now, so you can get excited too.
Samsung’s Galaxy S8 is already shaping up to be one of the best smartphones of 2017, if the rumours and leaks so far are on the money. Most of what we’ve heard reveals a series of enticing updates compared with the current Galaxy S7 flagship handset, meaning S7 owners will have plenty of reason to upgrade come Spring time. Check out our Galaxy S8 vs S7 comparison feature to see what possible changes and improvements the S8 will deliver.
Of course, not everything we’ve heard sounds golden – head over our round-up of the most disturbing Galaxy S8 rumours if you want to know more. But here and now, let’s concentrate on the positives.
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Most exciting Galaxy S8 rumours: That screen, though
The Galaxy S7 already sported some very sexy design, rocking a pleasing blend of metal and glass complete with perfect curves for a comfortable grip.
However, the Galaxy S8 is going to take things to a whole new level, thanks to its sexy new screen. Not only will the S8’s display wrap around the edges of the handset, just as they did on the S7 Edge, but it’ll also stretch towards the top and bottom of the phone, to completely fill the front surfacing. You’ll only get the narrowest of bezels, for the speaker and the Samsung logo.
The reason for this is the removal of the physical home button, which doubles as a fingerprint sensor. And the result is absolutely stunning, if those leaked images aren’t fakes.
Most exciting Galaxy S8 rumours: The fingerprint sensor is where now?
Of course, we’d really miss Samsung’s excellent fingerprint sensor if it was completely scrapped from the Galaxy S8. It’s a quick and easy way to unlock your handset, also doubling as a handy time-saving security measure for online payments and so on.
Good news though, because the Galaxy S8 will apparently still boast a fingerprint scanner. And in a rather cool move, the sensor will actually be built into the screen.
Just tap your finger to a highlighted portion of the screen and the sensor beneath the glass will read your print as usual. Funky!
Most exciting Galaxy S8 rumours: Open your eyes
The Galaxy S8 should also resurrect one of the more intriguing features of the Note 7, namely Samsung’s iris scanner.
This alternative to the fingerprint sensor allows you to unlock your phone with your eyeballs. The Galaxy S8’s front-facing camera should focus on your eyes and read the unique pattern of your iris to ensure that it’s you clutching the phone.
On the Note 7 it worked well, even functioning in the dark thanks to the infra-red sensor. The only time it fell over was when we were walking at the same time, as your eyes need to be still to be accurately scanned. But as a backup measure when your hands are covered/dirty/wet/sweaty, it’s definitely a great feature.
Most exciting Galaxy S8 rumours: S Pen on the S-Series!
While Samsung’s S Pen stylus was previously an exclusive feature for the Note series of smartphones, it looks like last year’s Note 7 debacle might have killed off the phablet range for good.
Never fear however, because that could be good news for the Galaxy S8. It seems like Samsung might bring the mighty S Pen to its flagship devices, so users can get creative or easily edit documents on the move.
We’re big fans of the new stylus, which can even operate when the phone’s screen is dripping wet. Very impressive tech indeed.
Most exciting Galaxy S8 rumours: Fast charging at last?
The Galaxy S7 was great and all, but Samsung’s ‘Adaptive Fast Charging’ was pretty pants compared to the likes of Quick Charge 3.0 (found on most recent Snapdragon mobiles), and OnePlus’ Dash Charge tech.
But the new Galaxy S8 could vastly improve on the S7’s casual charge times, if some web rumours are right. Here in the UK we’re likely to see a Snapdragon 835 version of the S8, which hopefully means Quick Charge 4.0 support. That should power up the phone in just over an hour overall, by our calculations.
Of course, some other rumours contradict this and instead point to the S8 supporting wireless charging only. As a less efficient method of powering up devices, this might mean prolonged charging times after all…
Most exciting Galaxy S8 rumours: Dual-lens camera action?
The Galaxy S8 could be Samsung’s first stab at a dual-lens camera, something we’ve already seen on the Huawei P9 and Mate 9, iPhone 7 Plus and a few other phones launched in 2016.
What are the benefits of dual lens cameras? Well, for a start they can offer impressive depth-of-field results, working in combination to produce a sharp, detail-packed snap with lovely bokeh (background blurring). And if the S8 takes a leaf out of the iPhone’s book, you might even get some optical zoom action.
Considering the Galaxy S7 still packs one of the best smartphone cameras of 2016, we’re optimistic that Samsung can once again dish up some really impressive mobile optics in the S8.
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